lt is one of the most haunting photos in the Edmonton Journal archives: a picture of Thomas Svekla, dressed in a green camouflage jacket and tinted round sunglasses, smiling tauntingly at the camera, his finger held to his lips. “Shhhh,” he seems to be saying. “I’ve got a secret.”

Drivers at the recent Edmonton Indy said young drivers would be safer by paying full attention to traffic and road conditions, avoiding distractions and being courteous to other drivers.

On Friday, the city announced an end to its signature motorsport event after the promoter decided not to stage a race next year.

“It was a fabulous event to go to and it created a lot of buzz and excitement, but it is an eight-year run whose time is up,” Lorna Rosen, the chief financial officer for the City of Edmonton, said during a hastily called news conference. “We tried everything we can think of to make it a success, and the races were good, but the profitability as a business venture just wasn’t there (for the promoter).”

The race had been produced without a title sponsor the last two years by Octane Motorsports, which relinquished its option for a third event in 2013. On Friday, the Montreal-based company filed a bankruptcy notice in the Superior Court of Quebec.

The organization, which runs successful Formula One and NASCAR races in Montreal as separate entities, cited poor attendance and lukewarm response from the corporate community as reasons for hitting the brakes in Edmonton.

“Despite tight management policies and all our efforts to offer fans a world-class spectacle, we were not able to make this event profitable and nothing allows us to hope for better profitability next year,” Octane Motorsports said in a news release. “Having little confidence that the situation would evolve positively for 2013 and beyond, we made the difficult decision to relinquish the promotion of the Edmonton Indy.”

Rosen said Edmonton poured $22 million into the race over eight years, including $3 million to build a track at the City Centre Airport. In return, she said the city realized between $50 million and $80 million annually in economic benefits.

“This year we got a mention on Letterman,” Rosen said, referring to the late-night talk-show host and IndyCar team owner. “That was pretty fun.”The announcement disappointed everyone from Mayor Stephen Mandel to local officials and racing buffs.

“It puts a definite hole in the summer schedule,” said Richard Skermer, executive director of Race Week, a citywide festival that coincided with the event since 2010. “We’ve lost our reason to have the party.”

Without an anchor event, Skermer said Race Week’s existence will have to be reassessed.

“We were looking to expand our soap box derby and looking to expand other events,” he said. “Now what do we do?”

The race had been held in Edmonton since 2005, initially under the Champ Car banner. That circuit was folded into the IndyCar Series in 2008, at which point Northlands agreed to run the event for three years, racking up $12.5 million in losses.

The race was about to be removed from the IndyCar calendar in 2011 when Octane stepped in.

Rosen said the city had been in discussions with the promoter over the last several days.

“I don’t believe it was a sudden decision,” Rosen said. “I don’t want to question their business decision. Do I believe they gave it a fair chance over the last two years? Yes, I think they did.”

The race just never caught on like expected, Rosen said.

“You have to have something that resonates with people and the business community,” she said. “It has to fit.”

Edmonton Economic Development Corporation is sad to see the Indy Race leave, but believes there are plenty of other events to promote to visitors.“We are definitely disappointed that the Edmonton Indy has been cancelled,” said Renee Worrell, communications manager with the not-for-profit corporation owned by the city. “It was a fantastic event that sports fans and race lovers swarmed into the region for.”

“We’ll continue to use other festivals and events and attractions to sell the city. We have a lot going on.”

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